First Lady of South Korea

The First Lady of the Republic of Korea (informally referred to as FLOTROK or FLOSK), commonly known as the First Lady of South Korea, is the wife of the President of South Korea. The wife of the Prime Minister of South Korea is the Second Lady of South Korea.

First Lady of the Republic of Korea 대한민국 영부인
Incumbent Kim Jung-sook since May 10, 2017
Abbreviation	FLOTROK, FLOSK
Residence	Blue House, Seoul, South Korea
Inaugural holder	Franziska Donner
Formation	24 July 1948 (72 years ago)
Website	(in English) english.president.go.kr (in Korean) president.go.kr

During the administration of President Park Chung-hee, his daughter, Park Geun-hye, assumed the duties of First Lady after her mother, Yuk Young-soo, was shot dead.[1] The first, and to date, only female president Park Geun-hye was never married in office so there is still yet to be a first gentleman of Korea.

The current first lady is Kim Jung-sook, wife of President Moon Jae-in, in office since 10 May 2017.

List of first ladies of the Republic of Korea

The following is a list of the first ladies of South Korea.

I#	A#	Picture	Name	Tenure	Age at the start of tenure	President (Husband, unless noted)
1	1		Franziska Donner (프란체스카 도너) Birth country: Austria June 15, 1900 – March 19, 1992 (aged 91)	August 15, 1948 – April 26, 1960	48 years, 61 days	Rhee Syng-man m. October 8, 1934
	2
	3
2	4		Gong Deok-gwi (공덕귀 / 孔德貴) April 21, 1911 – November 24, 1997 (aged 86)	August 13, 1960 – March 23, 1962	49 years, 114 days	Yun Bo-seon m. January 6, 1949
3	5		Yuk Young-soo (육영수 / 陸英修) November 29, 1925 – August 15, 1974 (aged 48)	December 17, 1963 – August 15, 1974	38 years, 18 days	Park Chung-hee m. December 12, 1950
	6
	7
	8
			Park Geun-hye[note 1] (박근혜 / 朴槿惠) Born February 2, 1952	August 16, 1974 – October 26, 1979	23 years, 195 days	Park Chung-hee (daughter of)
	9
4	10		Hong Gi (홍기 / 洪基) March 3, 1916 – July 20, 2004 (aged 88)	December 6, 1979 – August 15, 1980	63 years, 278 days	Choi Kyu-hah m. 1935
5	11		Lee Soon-ja (이순자 / 李順子) Born March 24, 1939	September 1, 1980 – February 24, 1988	41 years, 161 days	Chun Doo-hwan m. 1958
	12
6	13		Kim Ok-suk (김옥숙 / 金玉淑) Born August 11, 1935	February 25, 1988 – February 24, 1993	52 years, 198 days	Roh Tae-woo m. 1959
7	14		Son Myeong-sun (손명순 / 孫命順) Born January 16, 1929	February 25, 1993 – February 24, 1998	64 years, 40 days	Kim Young-sam m. 1951
8	15		Lee Hee-ho (이희호 / 李姬鎬) September 21, 1922 – June 10, 2019 (aged 96)	February 25, 1998 – February 24, 2003	75 years, 157 days	Kim Dae-jung m. 1962
9	16		Kwon Yang-sook (권양숙 / 權良淑) Born February 2, 1948	February 25, 2003 – February 24, 2008	55 years, 23 days	Roh Moo-hyun m. 1973
10	17		Kim Yoon-ok (김윤옥 / 金潤玉) Born March 26, 1947	February 25, 2008 – February 24, 2013	60 years, 336 days	Lee Myung-bak m. December 19, 1970
11	18	None[note 2]
12	19		Kim Jung-sook (김정숙 / 金正淑) Born November 15, 1954	May 10, 2017 – May 10, 2022	61 years, 176 days	Moon Jae-in m. 1981

Notes

1. Park Geun Hye is the daughter of Park Chung-hee, and took over as First Lady following Yung Young-soo's death.[2]
2. The President at the time, Park Geun-Hye, was single, having never married.[3]

See also

• First Lady
• First Lady of North Korea
• President of South Korea
• List of Presidents of South Korea
• Second Lady
• Second Lady of South Korea
• Prime Minister of South Korea
• List of Prime Ministers of South Korea

References

1. Carter J. Eckert, Ki-baik Lee, Young Ick Lew, Michael Robinson, and Edward W. Wagner, Korea Old and New: A History (Seoul: Ilchokak / Korea Institute, Harvard University, 1990), 377.
2. "Profile: South Korean President Park Geun-hye". BBC News. Retrieved 3 January 2018. When her mother was murdered by a North Korean gunman in 1974, Ms Park served as first lady at the age of 22.
3. Phelan, Jessica (31 January 2014). "All The Single Leaders: The world's most eligible heads of state". Public Radio International. Retrieved 3 January 2018. Park said she hasn't taken a husband because she’s already married to her country...